Kapitel 12: Meng Ai

*Things like sexism and racism are for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

Qing Fang felt the feeling of illness ravage his body. He felt terrible.

It felt as though he wanted to puke but his stomach was empty, making for a wildly uncomfortable feeling. He knew that he was even weaker than a mortal child right now. His gaze blurred as it shifted in and out of focus when he looked around him.

'This place...' Sighing in relief, Qing Fang found himself still in the garden where he destroyed his cultivation. If by chance, someone had come across his defenceless body when he was incapacitated, Qing Fang would be in serious trouble. He would never leave his fate in the hands of another even if it was the kindest or most trustworthy soul in existence.

However, it was this trait that would keep him alive in a Universe of cultivation. People died like flies and killed without care. However, every one of these incidents led back to one word: benefit. As strength was so materialistic and a single resource could potentially lift you to the top of the world, the competition was fierce. Betrayal, fratricide and sin were commonplace. However, someone like Qing Fang shone in a place like this. The only people that could potentially threaten him were people similar to himself.

However, this was something to be proud of. If only you could threaten yourself, you are unbeatable and also possess the power to beat the unbeatable.

Thinking of something, Qing Fang looked up at the sky and saw that there was no trace of the roaring flames he had seen before. Qing Fang didn't know how long he had been unconscious but his lips curled into a smile. The reason for this was because he had managed to escape the mortal danger he was in. Although he paid a great price, Qing Fang would rather be a living mortal than a dead god.

So long as he was alive, he had the chance to rise again.

However, everything felt strange. From the sounds of the wind and birds to the appearance of the world, it was all different. Qing Fang felt like he had awoken from a nice dream and thrown into an uncomfortable body.

The reason for this was because Qing Fang's senses as a Stage 3 cultivator opened him up to a closer look at the world. Previously, when he looked at people, he would see their whole bodies in extreme detail. When he heard, he could hear multiple sounds at once and separate them. When he smelt, he could tell if it was going to rain or not solely on the smell of the air. He had gotten so used to a world in high definition that when it suddenly vanished, the existence felt dull and grey. However, would Qing Fang let petty feelings sway him?

Crushing the feelings a normal person would have; sadness, frustration and deprecation, Qing Fang strived to return to his former strength before stepping back on the road to the peak.

Qing Fang was currently sat upright on the wet grass. He moved his body to try and stand up but when he did, he fell straight back to the ground. Frowning heavily, he continuously exerted more and more strength until he was able to lift himself up. Now standing, Qing Fang felt a little off-balance and felt like he could fall easily. Naturally this was the disparity in strength that he was used to. Before, even if a stallion charged into him at full force, he wouldn't even budge. Now, however, a slightly strong push from a mortal would send him to the floor.

'Mortals are just too weak. With my experience, I can rapidly advance back to Stage 3. After that, I'll see if I can go beyond...' Qing Fang knew that he had crippled the potential of his body by destroying his cultivation. Although it seemed as though he had no hope if Qing Fang didn't even try then he would've let Li Shan kill him.

For Qing Fang, who was experienced in cultivation, he could rapidly advance and might even regain Stage 3 cultivation in less than six months. For comparison, Qing Fang spent nine years to become a peak Stage 3 cultivator.

Making plans for the immediate future, Qing Fang walked around the garden to get used to his mortal body. However, since his soul was still unlocked, he had almost perfect control over his body. When parts would usually shut down due to pain or overuse, Qing Fang could forcefully use them.

In reality, a mortal's body was not as weak as it seemed. The brain put a limit on the amount of strength the muscles used so as to not damage the body. However, Qing Fang was in full control. He could use about three times the strength of an average mortal man without risking serious damage to his joints and ligaments.

For those unskilled in cultivation, they usually took the path of martial arts. This trained the body to the extreme in all aspects. From rubbing sand on the skin to make it thicker to beat the shins and testicles with a club until no pain would be felt. However, the main pillars of martial arts were strength and skill. Skill was self-explanatory. It involved training in certain fighting techniques. Strength, however, was much more complicated. Over the millennia, martial arts has perfected muscle training. They could easily build bulging muscles. But the deeper meaning in muscle training was using more of their strength than the brain normally allowed. This was done through training the mind and dutiful meditation. If martial artists could perfect it, along with large muscle mass, they could be as physically strong as a Stage 2 cultivator.

This was a great feat. A mortal matching a cultivator in strength? However, these mortal martial artists would be the great grandmasters of their respective regions. Next to none of the martial artists in history reached this level. This was all made possible by training the brain to unlock the body's potential. Right now, Qing Fang had achieved the same effect with his unlocked soul but to a perfect degree.

This was one of the reasons why even the weakest Stage 7 could easily kill the strongest Stage 6. As well as having larger strength, they had an unlocked soul that allowed them to use it more effectively.

As Qing Fang was experimenting with this, he marvelled at the mysteries of the human body. Theoretically, his muscles could exert infinite strength so long as they had enough energy. If Qing Fang channelled all the energy his mortal body currently had into one punch, although he would directly die, the punch could kill a Stage 4 cultivator with one blow. Now, this was unheard of. But which mortal had an unlocked soul? In the history of the Universe, they could probably be counted on one hand.

Going on from this, Qing Fang determined after careful consideration that he would limit himself to three times the strength of an average mortal man. Any more than this and serious injuries such as breaking one's own bones was possible to occur. Qing Fang didn't want to make himself so strong that he killed himself as well as his opponent.

Since he was a mortal now, he had to be cautious even when dealing with other mortals. No longer could he effortlessly slaughter thousands of them. Just ten experienced mortal martial artists would be enough to subdue him. The number was ten because, as well as having three times the strength of a mortal, Qing Fang still had his outstanding battle talent. With this number, Qing Fang also assumed his opponents would fight with no sense of self-preservation. So, in reality, this number would actually be higher than ten.

Qing Fang turned his attention to the vast manmade garden as he walked around it. It was about a square kilometre. There was carefully paved paths through the well-maintained garden with medicinal herbs on either side. These herbs weren't spiritual herbs that contained Law fragments. These were the herbs that Refinement Masters would use to concoct pills and were very expensive. If Qing Fang really saw some here, he wouldn't hesitate to face an army to steal them. This shows their value.

Previously, Qing Fang could see, hear and smell the whole garden, however, now he was crippled in comparison. He could barely hear the sound his foot made as it touched the grass let alone all the various insects scattered around. His vision gradually blurred as he was forced to strain his eyes to even see one hundred meters clearly. When he first entered the garden, he instantly knew it was manmade because he smelt all the herbs with a single sniff. Now, he could only smell the grass.

It was also due to this reason that he only heard a melodious voice until it was less than one hundred meters away from him.

Startled and taking no chances, Qing Fang snapped his head in the direction of the voice. Where he looked was a bit off due to his hearing worsening, but he saw the origin of the voice.

Less than one hundred meters from him was a brown-skinned woman weaving through the herbs with a thatched basket as she collected those that were ready to be picked. As she was doing so, the woman was singing with a loud and clear voice. This loud commotion was also what notified Qing Fang of her existence.

Wincing at the sound of her singing, it abruptly stopped.

This was because the woman had dropped everything she was holding and staring at him with a wide-open mouth. If one had to describe it, her mouth was in an 'O' shape. The woman looked to be young, very young. At most fourteen, at least twelve. At this, it was more appropriate to call her a girl.

Qing Fang matched her shocked gaze with a ruthless and scary expression. But he quickly got rid of it as he put on a kind and friendly face. He even matched it with a self-deprecating smile. After that, he walked over to her with slow steps.

...

When Meng Ai saw a strange man in the sacred garden, she was shocked. Firstly it was because men were forbidden from entering the garden and then it was due to his appearance. He was wearing torn, rugged and dirty robes and looked ill. In fact, he looked very ill. His thin lips were a deathly blue, his skin was chalk white and there were deep bags under his eyes. He looked like a walking dead.

When Meng Ai suddenly saw him take steps toward her, she was a bit frightened. She bit her lip and clenched her hands until they were white. Right now, she was the only one in the sacred garden. As a thirteen-year-old girl, she was scared of this strange man. He was much bigger and taller than her.

In truth, while Qing Fang's height of 6'0" and lean muscular body looked intimidating, he was currently weaker than even Meng Ai.

After the initial fear, she slowly got the urge to help the strange man. This was because she saw his dirty and weak appearance. Coupled with his kind expression and weak movements that looked as though he would fall over when walking toward her, Meng Ai began to feel pity. Luckily for her, she didn't show it on her face as she was still a bit scared.

She was lucky as if the insanely proud Qing Fang spotted a semblance of pity in her toward him, she would be ripped to pieces in under ten seconds. Even if he was as weak as a baby right now, anger was an extremely powerful weapon that had already helped Qing Fang in butchering Stage 4 Qing Jinfeng.

As expected of a child, Meng Ai stood there awkwardly until Qing Fang arrived before her. Her clenched hands had long relaxed while her frowned brow rose. She felt no danger at all from this strange man.

If Qing Fang knew this, a happy expression would appear on his face. This was because it meant his signature 'friendly smile' had risen by a major realm!

...

Arriving before the little brown-skinned girl, Qing Fang stood silently for a second before introducing himself.

On Qingpu planet, before the Qing Clan arrived here and occupied it, the natives had brown skin. The first settlers from the, then small, Qing Clan had white skin and were easy to differentiate from the natives. After the planet came under the control of Qing Clan's Stage 6 experts at the time, white skin was hailed as superior.

The natives weren't all one shade of brown. They varied from dark brown to light brown. After lighter skin became superior, the light-skinned natives established a hierarchy separate from Qing Clan. Lighter skin was a sign of nobility and cleverness. Darker skin was a sign of a dirty bloodline and idiocy.

The girl before Qing Fang had very dark-brown skin and would be less than a slave because of it. Any other Qing Clansman would disdain her at first sight, but Qing Fang was different. While he had learnt to abuse the dark-skins back in Qingshan City as it was 'normal', he only ever saw power and utilisation rather than appearance when looking at a person. This was his sociopathic nature.

In truth, Qing Fang didn't understand why colour became such a big thing after the Qing Clan took over the planet. Maybe the remaining natives hated their own kind due to imperialism and enforced this sort of system?

In actuality, before and during the battle between the Qing Clan and the natives, dark skin was a symbol of power and valour on the battlefield. After their victory, Qing Clan spread the doctrines that dark skin was disgusting. Thus, it became so even in the eyes of the dark skins themselves.

"Hello, little girl. My name is Fang." Qing Fang's voice sounded hoarse and weak, like a fork on a chalkboard. After he spoke, even Qing Fang himself was shocked at the sound of it. It seems he was as ill as he felt...

Hearing the strange man introduce himself as Fang, Meng Ai knew that she had to introduce herself.

"H-hello. I-i'm Meng Ai." She spoke shyly and quietly, like a delicate flower. After introducing herself, she felt less scared and even raised her head to match Qing Fang's warm gaze. "Why are you in the scared garden? Boys aren't allowed in here." With notably more confidence than before, Meng Ai asked.

"Oho? It seems I am lost. Can you show me the way back?" Qing Fang chuckled heartily and said. He was keeping an eye on the girl's mannerisms at all times. Seeing that she was gradually relaxing, he was relieved. With very young children, deceiving them was easy. However, older children around this girl's age were even more sceptical than adults.

"Mhmm!" Meng Ai hummed affirmatively. Without wasting even a breath, she turned around and skipped away with Qing Fang limping behind. However, after they had crossed the garden, Meng Ai, this little girl, shouted. "Hold on!"

"What's the matter." At her sudden outburst, Qing Fang was worried that she might be suspicious of him. However, Qing Fang could only passively try to soothe her with a warm tone. He was too weak right now. He wouldn't be able to mould the situation with strength and underhanded means as he was unable to execute them.

Meng Ai stared at Qing Fang in the eyes with a look that said 'this is very serious.' Opening her tiny mouth, she spoke with a solemn tone.

"I forgot my basket."

"Haha. Don't worry. I'll wait here." Qing Fang was relieved that it was only something stupid like this. Even if the situation turned for the worse, he could only use words to get himself out of it.

"Okay~!" Meng Ai shouted as she ran off.

Qing Fang had a troubled gaze as he watched her run out of sight and into the shrubbery. He wanted to inwardly complain before a strange expression appeared on his face.

"Ahhh." A moan of satisfaction slipped from Qing Fang's lips as strength filled his weak body. Colour resurfaced in his face as he looked refreshed and awake. His shaky bearing instantly solidified as his sense of balance restored.

No longer hunched over and stood upright, Qing Fang tensed his wiry muscles as they rippled under the surface of his skin. After the euphoria and satisfaction left his face, Qing Fang was left wondering one thing.

'What was that?'

...

The red figure watched as Qing Fang let out a little moan as strength returned to his body.

Just now, the red figure had sent a wave of energy toward Qing Fang to repair his body and restore his potential.

"It is time." The red figure said this before intending to leave this part of the Void.

The Creation Deity saw the red figure leaving and asked him "what manner of being are you?" Like before, the Creation Deity witnessed the whole procedure of the red figure using unknown means to restore Qing Fang's potential. It should be known that the Laws of Existence, higher than the Laws of the Universe, dictate that this should be impossible as should all the other things the red figure had done. The Creation Deity had intended to ask him how he accomplished this. However, seeing that the red figure was leaving, just this question appeared in his mind.

"They call me Unrestrained." After it said this, the red figure vanished after fluttering its wings.

Left with only this, the Creation Deity was stumped. 'What does that mean?' Even the Creation Deity, a peak existence, had no clue.

Turning his thoughts away from things he could not find out, the Creation Deity looked back toward the mortal Qing Fang. He remembered what the red figure had said when it first appeared. "You never know, you might get something from this experience."

Fueled by curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, the Creation Deity watched every single movement of Qing Fang.

Silence returned within the Void once more. The only thing that could be seen in the black expanse was a mass of blue lightning seated within the air.